RISE: MOAB kills 36; Syria evacuations begin; N. Korea blames Trump

Friday

Apr 14, 2017 at 4:00 AM

No civilians killed by massive bomb in Afghanistan; about 10,000 relocated in coordinated effort; US more vicious and aggressive under president, Pyongyang says; and more headlines to start your Friday, April 14, 2017.

staff and wire reports

36 ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS KILLED BY MASSIVE BOMB

Afghanistan officials say the U.S. attack on a tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military has left 36 Islamic State group fighters dead.

There were no civilian casualties, according to the Ministry of Defense statement, which also said that several IS caves and ammunition caches were destroyed.

Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district where the attack took place, welcomed the attack on ISIS, saying: "I want 100 times more bombings on this group."

SYRIAN DEAL TO EVACUATE THOUSANDS BEGINS

The Syrian government and opposition forces began a coordinated population swap Friday of about 10,000 people from four towns besieged for years amid the country's bloody, six-year civil war.

About 5,000 people were evacuated on 75 buses from two pro-government towns in northern Syria to the nearby city of Aleppo, said Abdul Hakim Baghdadi, who helped negotiate the arrangement.

The predominantly Shiite Foua and Kfraya have remained loyal to the Syrian government while the surrounding Idlib province has come under hard-line Sunni, rebel rule.

Near the capital of Damascus, some 60 buses carrying 2,350 opposition fighters, activists and their families departed from two opposition-held towns in the direction of Idlib, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group and Syrian state media.

If the evacuations are completed, they would be the first in number of rounds stretching over two months to evacuate some 30,000 Syrians from besieged areas.

NORTH KOREA OFFICIAL: US MORE VICIOUS, AGGRESSIVE UNDER TRUMP

North Korea's vice foreign minister on Friday blamed President Donald Trump for escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula through his tweets and expansion of military exercises, saying the U.S. was becoming "more vicious and more aggressive" under his leadership than it had been under President Barack Obama.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Pyongyang, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol also warned the U.S. against provoking North Korea militarily. "We will go to war if they choose," he said.

"Now we are comparing Trump's policy toward the DPRK with the former administration's and we have concluded that it's becoming more vicious and more aggressive," Han said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Whatever comes from U.S. politicians, if their words are designed to overthrow the DPRK system and government, we will categorically reject them," he said.

COUNTRIES MUST PUNISH UN TROOPS FOR SEXUAL ABUSE, US SAYS

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley on Thursday urged all countries that provide troops for U.N. peacekeeping missions to hold soldiers accountable for sexual abuse and exploitation, an appeal that came after she cited an Associated Press investigation into a child sex ring in Haiti involving Sri Lankan peacekeepers.

She also warned that "countries that refuse to hold their soldiers accountable must recognize that this either stops or their troops will go home and their financial compensation will end."

OBAMACARE FIXES DON'T IMPRESS INSURERS

The Trump administration released limited fixes Thursday for shaky health insurance markets, but insurers quickly said those actions won't guarantee stability for millions of consumers now covered.

While calling it a step in the right direction, the industry is looking for a guarantee that the government will also keep paying billions in "cost-sharing" subsidies. And President Donald Trump says he hasn't made up his mind on that.

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